This invention relates to a dispensing apparatus for rolled material and more particularly to a dispensing apparatus for dispensing a masking apron therefrom.
Masking aprons are used frequently in the auto body industry and the like to shield parts of the vehicle to remain untouched. The masking apron generally includes a sheet of masking material having a strip of adhesive tape overlapped along one edge thereof for affixing the apron material to a work surface.
Dispensers for masking aprons generally include one or more shafts for supporting rolled sheeted material thereon as well as one or more corresponding tape dispensers for dispensing tape therefrom in an overlapping configuration with the sheeted material.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,761 to Phillips, U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,248 to Hunter and U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,245 to Driscoll each provide dispensers which are arranged for supporting various sized rolls of apron material thereon. Each of these dispensers however requires awkward manipulation of some form to either load or unload rolls of material thereon while requiring the further step of manually engaging a retainer member thereon to prevent the roll from unrolling itself.
The present invention is concerned with certain improvements to masking apron dispensers.
According to the present invention there is provided a dispensing apparatus for dispensing a masking apron including apron material and adhesive tape along one side of the apron material, the apparatus comprising:
a frame structure;
a shaft supported on the frame structure arranged to support a roll of apron material on the shaft for rotation about the shaft;
a tape support mounted on the frame structure spaced radially outward from the shaft, the tape support being arranged to rotatably support a roll of adhesive tape thereon in alignment with the roll of apron material on shaft; and
an elongate blade mounted on the frame structure spaced radially from the shaft, the blade extending at an incline in relation to a longitudinal direction of the shaft for cutting the apron material and adhesive tape which are dispensed from the frame structure.
The use of an inclined blade which extends along side the shaft provides a quick and simple method of cutting the apron material dispensed from the dispensing apparatus by engaging the apron material gradually to reduce the resistance to cutting. When a sheet is unrolled from the roll of apron material, a top end of the sheet is pulled laterally towards the blade such that pressure is concentrated at the upper end of the blade first and is gradually displaced downwards along the blade as the apron material is cut. The cutting edge of the inclined blade is thus oriented substantially perpendicularly to the direction in which the apron material is pulled towards the blade even when the apron material is cut gradually from one end to the other. The inclined blade also provides more access to the rolls of paper when handling rolls on the shaft.
The blade preferably extends at an angle to a plane containing the shaft therein and includes a cutting edge which extends tangentially in relation to the shaft.
When the shaft is arranged to support numerous rolls of apron material at spaced locations along the shaft, the blade preferably extends substantially along the full length of the shaft.
The blade may be selectively separable from the frame structure for replacement or for sharpening.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a dispensing apparatus for dispensing a masking apron, the apparatus comprising:
a frame structure;
a shaft supported on the frame structure arranged to support a roll of apron material on the shaft for rotation about the shaft;
a tape support mounted on the frame structure spaced radially outward from the shaft, the tape support being arranged to rotatably support a roll of adhesive tape on the tape support; and
a retainer member mounted on the frame structure having a loading portion spaced radially outward from the shaft and a flexible portion spaced radially inwards towards the shaft in relation to the loading portion;
the flexible portion of the retainer member being flexible between a relaxed position adjacent the shaft and a flexed position spaced radially outward from and biased towards the shaft for engaging the roll of apron material between the retainer member and the shaft in the flexed position;
the retainer member extending in a longitudinal direction of the shaft from the loading portion to the flexible portion of retainer member such that the flexible portion of the retainer member is displaced into the flexed position by a roll of apron material as the roll is loaded onto the shaft.
The particular arrangement of the retainer member to extend in a longitudinal direction of the shaft as it arcs inwardly toward the shaft provides a suitable camming surface arranged to engage a roll of apron material as it is inserted onto the shaft. The retainer member is thus automatically deflected into the flexed position without the need to manually disengage and re-engage the retainer member whenever the roll of apron material requires changing. This is particularly useful when mounting large rolls into the dispensing apparatus as both hands of the individual using the apparatus are typically required for manipulating the roll of apron material and thus further manual displacement of the retainer member would require awkward manipulation.
The retainer member preferably includes a smooth camming face for engaging the roll of apron material to displace the retainer member into the flexed position as the roll of apron material is mounted on the shaft.
The retainer member may be secured at respective ends thereof at substantially diametrically opposed locations on the frame structure.
The retainer member preferably comprises an elongate flexible rod which is substantially constant in length in both the flexed and relaxed positions.
The retainer member may further include an unloading portion extending from the flexible portion opposite the loading portion, the unloading portion arcing away from the shaft as it extends in the longitudinal direction of the shaft.
According to a further aspect there is provided a dispensing apparatus for dispensing a masking apron, the apparatus comprising:
a frame structure;
an upright shaft supported on the frame structure comprising a plurality of longitudinal sections coupled end to end, each longitudinal section being selectively separable from an adjacent longitudinal section;
a plurality of support members mounted on the respective longitudinal sections of the shaft, the support members extending radially outward from the shaft so as to be arranged to support respective rolls of apron material on the respective longitudinal sections of the shaft for rotation about the shaft; and
a plurality of tape supports mounted on the frame structure spaced radially outward from the shaft and spaced in a longitudinal direction of the shaft from the respective support members so as to be arranged to rotatably support respective rolls of adhesive tape thereon in alignment with the respective rolls of apron material.
The use of plural longitudinal sections of the shaft permit the shaft to be easily disassembled and reassembled when changing one of numerous rolls of apron material supported on the shaft. In particular when it is required to replace the lowermost roll of apron material the arrangement of the shaft using multiple longitudinal sections does not require the uppermost roll of apron material to be removed from the shaft.
The support members are preferably selectively separable from the frame structure with the respective longitudinal sections such that the rolls of apron material may remain supported thereon.
The support members may be adjustably mounted on the respective longitudinal sections for mounting the support members at numerous relative heights thereon.
The support members preferably each comprise a collar selectively mounted on the respective longitudinal section of the shaft and a bearing plate rotatably supported on the collar for supporting a roll of apron material thereon.
Each longitudinal section of the shaft preferably comprises a tubular member. In this instance a support rod may be slidably received through the tubular members for supporting the longitudinal sections in alignment thereon.
The support rod preferably extends only partway through an uppermost tubular member from a bottom end towards a top end thereof so as to simply removal of the uppermost longitudinal section of the shaft when replacing a lower roll of apron material.
There may be provided a locking pin extending through the support rod and the tubular member of an uppermost longitudinal section for restricting relative sliding movement therebetween.
Each tape support preferably includes an adjustable mounting mechanism arranged to support the tape support at various relative heights.
There may be provided an elongate blade spaced radially from the shaft, extending alongside the shaft substantially the combined length of all the longitudinal sections of the shaft.